Associations to the word «Startle»

Wiktionary

STARTLE, verb. (intransitive) To move suddenly, or be excited, on feeling alarm; to start.
STARTLE, verb. (transitive) To excite by sudden alarm, surprise, or apprehension; to frighten suddenly and not seriously; to alarm; to surprise.
STARTLE, verb. (transitive) (obsolete) To deter; to cause to deviate.
STARTLE, noun. A sudden motion or shock caused by an unexpected alarm, surprise, or apprehension of danger.

Dictionary definition

STARTLE, noun. A sudden involuntary movement; "he awoke with a start".
STARTLE, verb. To stimulate to action ; "..startled him awake"; "galvanized into action".
STARTLE, verb. Move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm; "She startled when I walked into the room".

Wise words

Life has no meaning unless one lives it with a will, at least to the limit of one's will. Virtue, good, evil are nothing but words, unless one takes them apart in order to build something with them; they do not win their true meaning until one knows how to apply them.
Paul Gauguin